Ali ibn Abi Talib

Family & Birth

Ali ibn Abi Talib was of Banu Hashim, the noblest house of Quraysh and the clan of the Prophet ﷺ himself, his father Abu Talib being the Prophet’s ﷺ uncle and protector. Authentic reports place his birth about ten years before the first Revelation — Ibn Sa’d records it on the 13th of Rajab — and a tradition related by al-Hakim holds that he was born within the precincts of the Ka’ba, though scholars of hadith differ on this. 1 The Life of Caliph Ali · pp. 23 — Nadwi — Ali's birth ~10 years before the Revelation; al-Hakim's report of his birth at the Ka'ba and the scholars' difference over it. When famine pressed hard on the Quraysh, the Prophet ﷺ and his uncle al-Abbas eased Abu Talib’s burden by taking his sons into their care — the Prophet ﷺ took Ali and raised him in his own household, where he grew under the guidance of “the teacher of humanity.” 2 The Life of Caliph Ali · pp. 23–24 — Nadwi (from Tabari) — the Prophet takes Ali into his household during the famine; Abbas takes Ja'far.

Acceptance of Islam

Ali came upon the Prophet ﷺ and Khadijah at prayer and asked what it was; the Prophet ﷺ called him to God, the One without associate, and the youth believed. Scholars reconciling the reports hold that Khadijah was first among women, Abu Bakr among mature men, and Ali among the young — while Ali’s own later sermon named Abu Bakr the first to embrace Islam. 3 The Life of Caliph Ali · pp. 24–25 — Nadwi — Ali's acceptance of Islam; the reconciliation of who believed first. He would slip out with the Prophet ﷺ to pray in the glens of Makkah until Abu Talib discovered them and, though keeping his forefathers’ religion, told his son: “He calls you only to good, so stay with him.” 4 The Life of Caliph Ali · pp. 25 — Nadwi (from Ibn Ishaq) — Abu Talib discovers them praying and blesses Ali's adherence. Endowed with the keen judgement of Banu Hashim, Ali quietly guided seekers of truth — most famously leading Abu Dharr al-Ghifari to the Prophet ﷺ over three nights of patient secrecy. 5 The Life of Caliph Ali · pp. 26 — Nadwi — the account (narrated by Bukhari from Ibn Abbas) of Ali guiding Abu Dharr to the Prophet. In one celebrated act of intimacy, the Prophet ﷺ raised Ali upon his shoulders to the roof of the Ka’ba so that he might cast down and shatter its idols. 6 The Life of Caliph Ali · pp. 27 — Nadwi — 'The Greatest Honour': Ali breaks the idols of the Ka'ba, dated before the Hijra.

At Madinah: Brotherhood and Marriage to Fatimah

In Madinah the Prophet ﷺ bound the believers in brotherhood, pairing Ali with Sahl ibn Hunayf (some reports say the Prophet ﷺ took Ali as his own brother). 7 The Life of Caliph Ali · pp. 33 — Nadwi (from Ibn Sa'd) — the institution of brotherhood; Ali paired with Sahl ibn Hunayf. In the second year of the Hijra, after Uhud, the Prophet ﷺ gave his daughter Fatimah in marriage to Ali, saying, “I am giving you to the best man of my household.” Ali’s means were so slight that his dowry was the chain-armour the Prophet ﷺ had once given him, and their home held little more than a bed-sheet, a water-bag and a leather pillow; they endured days of real hunger. 8 The Life of Caliph Ali · pp. 33–34 — Nadwi — the marriage to Fatimah, the dowry of his armour, and their poverty. From this marriage came Hasan and Husayn, the masters of the youth of Paradise.

Valor in the Cause of Allah

Ali’s courage became legendary. At Khaybar the Prophet ﷺ entrusted him with the army’s banner and victory followed (see Virtues in the Hadith), and during the Tabuk expedition the Prophet ﷺ left him as his deputy over Madinah, likening his standing to that of Harun beside Musa.

His devotion shone most fiercely at Uhud. When the Muslims were scattered and the rumour spread that the Prophet ﷺ had been slain, Ali searched for him among the living and the dead; resolving that there was nothing left but to plunge into the enemy and fight until killed, he cut his way through until he found the Prophet ﷺ and stood at his side. Twice the Prophet ﷺ ordered, “Ali, go and stop them,” and twice he drove back a charging band single-handed — upon which Jibril descended to praise his devotion, and the Prophet ﷺ said, “Ali belongs to me and I belong to him.” 9 Stories of the Sahabah · pp. 132–134 — Zakariyya Kandhlawi — Ali's account of Uhud: searching for the Prophet, charging the enemy, twice repelling them at his command, and Jibril's praise.

Under the First Three Caliphs

Through the reigns of Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman, Ali stood as a trusted counsellor of the Ummah, his learning and judgement sought on the gravest matters of the young state; he grieved deeply at the martyrdom of Umar. 10 The Life of Caliph Ali · pp. 97–130 — Nadwi — Ali's counsel and standing during the caliphates of Umar and Uthman, and his grief at Umar's death. Shibli Nomani records that, as Umar lay dying, he named Ali among the six-man council (shura) charged with choosing the next Caliph. 11 Al-Farooq · pp. 295 — Shibli Nomani — Umar names the six, including Ali, for the succession.

The Caliphate

After the murder of Uthman, Madinah turned to Ali; he declined at first, then yielded to the people’s entreaties, receiving the pledge of allegiance on Friday, 24 Dhul-Hijja 35 AH (656 CE). In his first sermon as Caliph he charged the people to hold to the Book, to honour the inviolability of a Muslim’s life, and to fear God in every trust. 12 The Life of Caliph Ali · pp. 135–136 — Nadwi — Ali's reluctant accession (24 Dhul-Hijja 35 AH) and the text of his first sermon. He moved the capital to Kufa, but his reign was overtaken by the first great civil strife (fitnah) of Islam — among its trials the revolt of the Kharijites, who broke away from his ranks and whom Ali defeated at Nahrawan. 13 The Life of Caliph Ali · pp. 163–169 — Nadwi — the Kharijites' secession and their defeat at Nahrawan.

Wisdom and Renunciation

For all his standing, Ali’s heart was turned toward the Hereafter. Kumayl ibn Ziyad relates that on a journey Ali stopped at a graveyard and called out to its dwellers — telling them that the wealth they left had been shared out, their children orphaned, their widows remarried — then turned to him and said that, had the dead been able to answer, they would have testified that the best provision for the Hereafter is taqwa (God-consciousness). With tears in his eyes he added that the grave is “a container of the deeds,” a truth one grasps only after death. 14 Stories of the Sahabah · pp. 85–87 — Zakariyya Kandhlawi — Ali addresses the dwellers of the graves and counsels Kumayl that taqwa is the best provision for the Hereafter.

Virtues in the Hadith

At Khaybar the Prophet ﷺ promised the banner to a man beloved of Allah, and gave it to Ali after healing his eyes:

لأُعْطِيَنَّ الرَّايَةَ غَدًا رَجُلاً يَفْتَحُ اللَّهُ عَلَى يَدَيْهِ

”Tomorrow I will give the banner to a man by whose hands Allah will grant victory.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 3701 · Book 62 (Virtues of the Companions), Hadith 51 · USC-MSA: Vol. 5, Book 57, Hadith 51 · narrated by Sahl ibn Sa’d

Leaving Ali in charge of Madinah at Tabuk, the Prophet ﷺ told him:

أَمَا تَرْضَى أَنْ تَكُونَ مِنِّي بِمَنْزِلَةِ هَارُونَ مِنْ مُوسَى

”Are you not content to be to me as Harun (Aaron) was to Musa (Moses)?”

Sahih al-Bukhari 3706 · Book 62 (Virtues of the Companions), Hadith 56 · USC-MSA: Vol. 5, Book 57, Hadith 56 · narrated by Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas

And Ali himself bore witness to a promise the Prophet ﷺ had given him:

لاَ يُحِبَّنِي إِلاَّ مُؤْمِنٌ وَلاَ يُبْغِضَنِي إِلاَّ مُنَافِقٌ

”None loves me but a believer, and none hates me but a hypocrite.”

Sahih Muslim 78 · Book of Faith · In-book: Book 1, Hadith 146 · narrated by Ali

Death & Legacy

Ali was martyred in Kufa by the Kharijite Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam, who had conspired with others after their defeat at Nahrawan — a woman named Qatam making Ali’s death her bridal price. Ambushed at the call to the dawn prayer on the 17th of Ramadan, 40 AH (661 CE), Ali was struck a mortal blow to the forehead. With his last strength he commanded that only his assassin be given just retaliation (qisas), forbade mutilation, and warned his kin against shedding Muslim blood over his death; he charged his son Hasan accordingly, and lingered before passing. 15 History of Islam · Vol 1 · pp. 496–497 — Najeebabadi — the conspiracy of Ibn Muljam, the dawn-prayer attack, Ali's charge of qisas only and no mutilation, and his death. The Ummah lost in him a peerless warrior, judge and scholar — and the last of the four Rightly-Guided Caliphs.